Durham University are hosting the ECMI – European Consortium for Mathematics in Industry – ‘European Study Groups with Industry (ESGI 165)’ this year, with Mathematicians from around the world meeting for one week to work on problems presented by external/industry partners.

What is the European Study Group with Industry (ESGI 165)? ESGI 165 consists of around 80 Mathematicians from a range of Universities around the world, meeting for a week to work on problems presented by external partners which often lead to a solution – or a methodology to obtain a solution.

Are you seeking the solution to a problem? This does not have to be a mathematical problem, but you may find a mathematical approach is what is required to come up with an answer. We will help you to formulate your problem in a way that is amenable to a mathematical study.

To give you a flavour of the diversity of problems which can be solved with mathematics here are some examples of problems which have been worked on in previous years:

• Performing a pre-symptomatic diagnosis of sepsis
• Designing Nuclear Arms Control Treaties
• Laying carbon fibre to make an airplane wing
• Evaluate the value of information in managing the electricity network
• Represent the degree of mimicry between prosodic behaviour of speech between people

What would you get from participating in our Study Group with Industry? The interaction with mathematicians will give you another view-point of your problem. There will also be a presentation on the final day followed by a written report in the weeks after the event.

What have previous participants gained? Some testimonials from previous study groups:

• “A very successful outcome from my point of view.  I took a long-standing problem to the group and it was solved, this will be of immediate benefit and will change how we do things in the future.  Also made some very useful contacts”
• “I have some good case studies of success and failure that I think I can use to test the model and I am itching to get going”
• “We came looking to explore the possibilities… I’m really pleased with the progress. There’s lots of elements that can be developed further but every area has mileage in it. There’s been a lot covered in a very short space of time”

What do we expect from you? A challenging problem and a commitment to it. We find that companies and organisations that benefit the most from Study Groups are those who have at least 1 person present for all, or at least most of, the week.

Why do we do it? Mathematics is not all about abstraction; it is a powerful problem-solving tool and we see it as a duty to use our skills for the benefit of society.

Is it free? There is a charge to participate which covers the organisational costs. Due to Covid 19 the study group will take place online this year, and the participation fee of £2000 +VAT reflects this. We have some additional funds in order to support SME’s to attend.

When is the next study group? This year, the UK study group is hosted by Durham University and will run from April 12^th until April 16^th.

If you are interested, or would like to find out more, please email: maths.esgi@durham.ac.uk  or visit our web site https://www.maths.dur.ac.uk/events/Meetings/ESGI_165 .